He has been delivering babies for so long he has been the family doctor for multiple generations.
Delivering in a small rural community encompassing Cohuna, Kerang, Barham, Pyramid Hill, Boort and even Deniliquin, Dr Barker has experienced the unconditional joy a birth can bring along with the devastation and heartache when things don’t go according to plan.
But after 38 years of being on call, he has made the tough decision to call it quits.
“I will continue to do anesthetics and work at the clinic,” Dr Barker said.
“There is nothing wrong with my head or my body but at 65 years old, I just can’t keep delivering babies forever and I would rather stop while things are functioning and going well.”
Dr Barker said delivering babies had brought many great memories, emphasizing he had always been surrounded by a competent team of nurses with a great range of skills to help make the job that little bit easier.
“Every time a baby is born, it is such a wonderful thing and each and every birth is just as important as the one before,” he said.
“I always tried my very best for every single birth but not everyone had a happy ending and I still remember every single stillborn. The memory of them always sticks with you.”
Dr Barker will continue to provide antenatal care for expectant district mothers up to a certain point and then facilitate a pathway for delivery at other hospitals including Echuca, Bendigo and Melbourne.
“I will be around for a few more years yet,” he laughed.
Dr Barker started his career in medicine as a doctor at Box Hill Hospital and arrived at Cohuna in 1983 for what he thought at the time was just a short six-month stint.
He ended up staying, marrying his wife Shirlene and raising three girls - Kelsey, Holly and Tess - in the town.
Mentored by former Cohuna doctor Peter Graham, it wasn’t long before Dr Barker became a passionate advocate for Cohuna and rural medicine, studying anesthetics, obstetrics, dermatology and cradle to grave country medicine so he could have a diverse skill set.
He laments the loss of multi-skilled doctors, centralisation of medical services and lack of mental health services.
“There is a huge gap in mental health services and I might pursue some training in that in the future,” Dr Barker said.
Dr Barker has fought for the Cohuna hospital on many occasions, including the day he dressed up in a penguin suit to raise funds.
In 2020 he received an OAM for services to medicine and told the Riverine Herald at the time ‘to receive an award like this for doing something I love is very humbling’.
Along the way he has mentored many doctors, including Dr Natalie Elphinstone.
Dr Elphinstone said it was a huge privilege to spend time each year at Cohuna hospital under Dr Barker's supervision.
“He taught me many things which I have remembered to this day; not just medically but also about myself as a person and a doctor,” Dr Elphinstone said.
She said witnessing her first birth alongside Dr Barker was a pivotal moment, sparking her own passion for obstetrics.
“It was such a powerful moment sharing in the joy, love and accomplishment and Peter taught me it was okay to feel the emotions and see the humanity, not just the medical science,” Dr Elphinstone said.
“Eighteen years and about a thousand babies later I finished my training to become an obstetrician and gynaecologist three years ago.".
And while medically life might have slowed down slighty for Dr Barker, he is still a busy man, spending the COVID-19 lockdown building a solar powered waterfall, a sauna and plunge pool.
He also has plans to get his pearl farm back up and running after drought made that possibility difficult over the last few years.
It seems life will be busy for Dr Barker in retirement, though not quite as hectic as his time spent in the delivery room.
